The San Diego Section will hold its divisional football championship games this weekend at Southwestern College’s DeVore Stadium in Chula Vista. Among the 10 teams vying for titles are two Metro-Mesa League squads: second-seeded Mater Dei Catholic and fourth-seeded Olympian Eagles in Division II.
Also in the championship mix are three East County teams: the Helix Highlanders (Open Division), Christian Patriots (Division III) and Santana Sultans (Division IV).
The Cathedral Catholic Dons (Open Division) and St. Augustine Saints (Division I) will be sure to thrill their numerous and ardent fans while the Madison Warhawks (Division I), Bishop’s School Knights (Division III) and La Jolla Country Day Torreys (Division IV) will be out to strong-arm their opponents as they quest for respect — and division crowns.
Two games are scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2; three games are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3.
The action kicks off Friday with the Division IV championship game pitting third-seeded Santana (8-4) and fifth-seeded La Jolla Country Day (10-3). Game time is 3 p.m.
The second game of Friday’s double-header pits top-seeded Madison and second-seeded St. Augustine, both with 10-2 records. Kick off is 7 p.m.
Saturday’s triple-header starts off at 11 a.m. with a marquee match-up featuring a pair of unbeaten 12-0 teams: top-seeded Christian and second-seeded Bishop’s.
The All-Metro Division II title tilt follows at 3 p.m.
The weekend’s showcase game between Cathedral Catholic (12-0) and Helix (10-2) should produce fireworks on the field in the Open Division final. Kick-off is Saturday at 7 p.m.
This is the third consecutive year that Southwestern College has hosted the division finals. Fans are close to the action and can get loud.
Helix returns to defend its CIF championship while St. Augustine and Bishop’s both return to the finals, though in different divisions.
Christian and Santana are both making a return to the division finals, though not in consecutive years.
Helix overwhelmed St. Augustine, 44-30, to win last year’s Open Division title while Christian stung Hoover by a score of 31-9 to capture the Division III championship two years ago.
Santana recorded a runner-up finish to Valley Center in the Division IV championship game in 2011 at Qualcomm Stadium.
If you go:
Open Division
Nate Stinson scored five touchdowns to lead Helix in last year’s CIF final. The Highlanders feature a diverse and talented cast this year.
Grossmont Hills League champion Helix eliminated third-seeded Rancho Bernardo (11-1) in the semifinals by a score of 28-10. The Broncos, last year’s Division II and state bowl champions, had entered the game undefeated on the season.
Freshman Elelyon Noa (14 carries, 109 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns while quarterback Carson Baker (198 passing yards) tossed a scoring pass to Scott Young (six catches, 122 yards). The Scotties collected 271 rushing yards, buttressed by senior Ezekiel Noa’s 137 yards on 14 carries.
Evan Perkins also scored on a 40-yard interception return.
The Highlanders topped seventh-seeded Valhalla (8-3) by a score of 14-0 in the quarterfinals on Nov. 18 as Baker rushed for one touchdown and threw for another.
Ezekiel Noa rushed for 126 yards to lead the Helix ground game while Jaylen Arnold caught the lone touchdown pass in that game.
Cathedral Catholic is one of three remaining undefeated teams in San Diego County, joining Division III finalists Christian and Bishop’s.
The Dons dispatched eighth-seeded Torrey Pines (8-3) by a score of 45-7 in the quarterfinals and eliminated fifth-seeded Mission Hills (7-5) by a score of 44-21 in last Friday’s semifinals.
Tate Haynes completed four touchdown passes while Adam Eastwood and Jordan Genmark-Heath each scored on rushing plays. Haynes hit four different receivers on touchdown passes: Jack Thompson, Patrick Brown, Eastwood and Moroni Anae. The Dons amassed 449 all-purpose yards in the victory.
Helix bowed to Cathedral Catholic, 35-28, in a non-league game on Sept. 16. Incentive is there to avenge that loss.
Division I
Madison and St. Augustine met in City Conference Western League play, with Madison handing the then top-ranked Saints a 56-42 plastering. St. Augustine, 5-0 at the time of their meeting with the Warhawks, has since gone 5-1 with playoff wins over seventh-seeded Point Loma (45-7 in the quarterfinals) and third-seeded La Costa Canyon (28-17 in the semifinals).
Both teams can rack up points in a hurry.
Rodney Thompson leads the Saints with 2,464 passing yards and 31 touchdowns. He’s also scored four rushing touchdowns. Darrell Broussard has rushed for 974 yards and scored nine rushing touchdowns. Isaac Taylor-Stuart has rushed for 617 yards and scored seven rushing touchdowns. J.R. Justice has caught 42 passes for 830 yards and 11 touchdowns.
St. Augustine, which draws a sizable percentage of its student body from South County, is led defensively by Andrew Alves and David Ambagtsheer, both with 71 tackles, as well as Ike Hall with 8.5 sacks and Brendan Silva with three interceptions.
Broussard leads the team with 13 total touchdowns (nine rushing and three receiving).
Madison, which lost 31-7 to Cathedral Catholic in the teams’ regular season finale, defeated ninth-seeded Carlsbad, 48-13, in the quarterfinals and dumped fourth-seeded San Marcos, 41-7, in the semifinals.
Quarterback Terrell Carter has thrown for 2,321 yards with 29 touchdowns and three interceptions to lead the Warhawks through the air while Erick Buchanan leads the team on the ground with 1,491 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns (14 rushing scores). Top receivers include Brandon Lewis with 889 yards and 11 touchdowns, Elijah Thomas with 518 receiving yards and five TDs and Buchanan with 30 catches for 514 yards and seven receiving TDs.
Madison is averaging 462 total yards per game. Cesar Nillaga leads the team with 12.5 sacks.
The Warhawks finished runner-up in Western League play to the Dons while the Saints finished third ahead of Point Loma and Mira Mesa in the league standings.
Division III
Both Christian and Bishop’s traditionally have South County players on their rosters, so look for a local to perhaps prove to be a game-breaker.
Christian, this year’s City Conference Eastern League champion, has racked up 85 points in its opening two playoff games.
Quarterback Brad Jeremiah threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns while Tshombre Carter (16 carries, 82 yards) and Joey Morones (eight carries, 76 yards) each scored on a pair of rushing touchdowns in the Patriots’ 50-27 win over ninth-seeded Hilltop (7-5) in the quarterfinals.
Christian defeated fourth-seeded Lincoln, 35-34, in a high-scoring semifinal match-up that came down to an onside kick attempt by Lincoln that went out of bounds to hand the ball to Christian, which promptly ended the game in victory formation.
The Patriots held a 28-20 lead entering the fourth quarter before the Hornets (7-5) made a late challenge. Jeremiah had 235 passing yards and two touchdowns while Benjamin Goodwin also threw an 84-yard scoring pass. Morones had two rushing touchdowns and Carter had one rushing TD. Goodwin caught eight passes for 124 yards to highlight the Christian receiving corps.
Coastal League champion Bishop’s has been dominant in its two playoff games thus far by defeating 10th-seeded La Jolla (7-5) by a score of 49-0 in the quarterfinals and following that up with a 35-19 semifinal win over third-seeded Valley Center (10-2).
Jeffrey Jackson passed for 236 yards and one touchdown, Mozes Mooney scored two rushing touchdowns and Justin Woodley scored on an interception return in the blowout win over La Jolla while Hasant Moses-Hillman returned the opening kick-off 88 yards for a touchdown to get the Knights rolling in the semifinals. Mooney and Woodley tacked on a pair of first-half scores.
The game is a battle of quarterbacks: Jackson has passed for 3,298 yards and 39 touchdowns while Jeremiah has passed for 2,034 yards and 21 TDs.
Division IV
Record-setting La Jolla Country Day quarterback Braxton Burmeister, the section’s all-time passing leader, will be the center of attention for obvious reasons. He proven to be a one-man wrecking crew through two playoff rounds.
LJCD zipped past 12th-seeded Kearny, 60-14, in the opening round and derailed fourth-seeded Mar Vista (8-3) by a score of 62-33 in the quarterfinals.
Burmeister passed for 209 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 89 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Kearny (3-8) and collected 400 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the win over Mar Vista, this year’s Metro-South Bay League champion. He passed for 224 yards and rushed for 91 yards in a 21-14 upset win over top-seeded Southwest El Centro in the semifinals.
The LJCD signal caller has thrown for 3,720 yards and 44 touchdowns in 2016.
At least one Grossmont Valley League team was guaranteed a berth in the Division IV championship game when Santana drew second-seeded Monte Vista in the division semifinals. That game went back and forth before the visiting Sultans pulled out a tight 35-32 victory.
Santana won the teams’ league match-up 46-40, so a shootout was set for the rematch.
Monte Vista, which spiked 10th-seeded Serra, 39-12 in the quarterfinals, went up 12-0 on a pair of touchdowns by Jamez McClendon. The Monarchs later built an 18-15 lead and, in the fourth quarter, McClendon’s third touchdown of the night gave the hosts a 24-22 advantage. Santana, which took care of business with a commanding 44-0 win over sixth-seeded Coronado (9-3), turned the score around to its favor, 28-24, on Bobby Wallace’s second touchdown of the night.
The Monarchs (7-5) went ahead, 32-28, after a touchdown by Jose Gonzalez and a successful two-point conversion by McClendon. But Santana quarterback Josh Oedewaldt connected with Brock Ellis for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown as time ticked down in the game.
Oedewaldt passed for 253 yards and three TDs in the victory. Ellis (nine catches, 176 yards) scored on two pass plays while Wallace rushed 19 times for 164 yards.
Division V
The CIF finals actually kicked off last Saturday (Nov. 26) with the Division V championship game between third-seeded Tri-City Christian and fourth-seeded Horizon Christian Academy at Southwestern College.
The game is a perfect example of what section officials were clamoring for: competitive balance in the playoffs. The idea behind the new system was to construct divisions where any team had a more or less even chance to win a game in any round of the playoffs.
True to form, both top-seeded Classical Academy and second-seeded Palo Verde Valley made exits prior to the finals. Palo Verde lost 35-6 to seventh-seeded Calexico in the quarterfinals while Horizon Christian defeated Classical Academy, 48-34, in the semifinals.
Tri-City Christian (10-3) topped Calexico, 41-14, in the semifinals.
Horizon Christian (7-6) beat the odds by defeating TCC by a score of 40-18 in the championship game.
Artyom Harr led Horizon to the title with three rushing touchdowns. The Panthers scored five rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown.
Eight-Man
A total of 13 East County teams qualified for the 2016 section playoffs.
Second-seeded Foothills Christian defeated top-seeded Calvin Christian, 44-38, to win the section’s eight-man playoff championship on Nov. 18. Caleb Tarver rushed for 261 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Foothills while quarterback Daniel Hoffman passed for 185 yards and one score.
Foothills defeated third-seeded St. Joseph Academy, 44-20, in the semifinals of the four-team playoff bracket while Calvin Christian topped fourth-seeded Borrego Springs 51-0.
San Diego Section Football Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 25
Open Division
(1) Cathedral Catholic 44, (5) Mission Hills 21
(2) Helix 28, (3) Rancho Bernardo 10
Division I
(1) Madison 41, (4) San Marcos 7
(2) St. Augustine 28, (3) La Costa Canyon 17
Division II
(4) Olympian 27, (1) Poway 19
(2) Mater Dei Catholic 42, (11) Bonita Vista 10
Division III
(1) Christian 35, (4) Lincoln 34
(2) Bishop’s 35, (3) Valley Center 19
Division IV
(5) La Jolla Country Day 21, (1) El Centro Southwest 14
(3) Santana 35, (2) Monte Vista 32
Division V
Championship game
(4) Horizon Christian 40, (3) Tri-City Christian 18
